10 day digital detox: 3 things I learned

Posted on August 18, 2016

I didn’t do a 10 day digital detox for fun. I didn’t do it to to clear my head, to have some “me time”, to distance myself from social media nor to give myself a challenge. In fact, I didn’t really do it at all: it just happened, mainly cuz I’m a huge scatterbrain, forgetful and a lot of time just plain ol’ dumb. So yes, I forgot my phone on the passenger seat of the car rental and only realized when Stef was half way to the airport…. and with my luck, the 1-day express postal service somehow took 10… So there ya go. Combine that with the fact that we still hadn’t managed to get WiFi or TV set up in our new house; there’s your impromptu, non-planned, nor desired digital detox.

I’m not one of those people against social media. Although I completely understand when people express the negative sides of it, I’m all for it. I’ve met lots of beautiful people through social media, it’s motivated me to lead the lifestyle I do and there are so many strong, inspiring communities that have grown and connected through it as well.

Sooo as you can guess by now, being pro social media and having an unhealthy attachment to my phone, I wasn’t really too keen on taking time off the digital world. But it happened regardless and you know what? I’m damn happy it did. Although I genuinely had withdrawal symptoms (had that awkward I’m-forgetting-something feeling ALL THE TIME when I didn’t have my phone in my hand), I learned a lot. Here are the top 3 things I learned:

Phone’s are a time sucker. Without a phone, something insane happened. MORE HOURS GOT ADDED TO THE DAY. I swear, it was madness. I feel like there’s something clocks aren’t telling us, cuz a 28 min Kayla circuit lasts friiiiikin long but by the time I’ve scrolled through my insta feed and checked out all of the Kardashian’s snapchats, like 45 minutes has passed and wait what? HOOOOWW??!

It’s time to be more mindful. Okay you’re sitting down for breakfast. First thing you do? Probably grab your phone and do some scrolling. You get on the bus, have a seat, first thing you do? Probs search your bag for your phone, and get on that scrolling again. Without a phone I finally took the time to be mindful. I focused on what I was doing, focused on my food when eating, and my surroundings when waiting in a line. Turns out when you have nothing to distract you, you can actual think about what your doing… and not forget things in rental cars…

We forget to focus on ourselves. Social media is typically criticized for only showing the highlights of people lives, so this is something I always try to keep in mind. I try tell myself that yup everyone has Friday laundry & vacuuming nights even though you won’t see it advertised with #laundylife on your feed. There is something else social media leads us to do though, and that’s to compare ourselves to others. Even though I know Shelly doesn’t aaallways go to these freakin cool events in awesome clothes looking naturally flawless, she did today. Aaaaand I’m not. That’s kinda shit, wish I was (I don’t who Shelly is but what she’s doing seems pretty cool). There it is. That comparison. Without social media to show me what others were doing I actually had the time to think and focus on myself.

So there are the top 3 things I learned. Now of course I was happy as hell to get my phone back but I have to say that having that time off was a little refreshing. Life was in some ways so incredibly simple. I now challenge all of you to try out a digital detox. Maybe not for 10 days but why don’t you try just one? One day of full freedom. It’s crazy how wonderful the off-screen world can be.

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About Me!

Holllaaa! I am 22 year old student currently living in Switzerland. I'm all about maxing gains and that #teamsquats life while being a green smoothie drinking, spinach-loving, yogi. Here you'll find all things health, fitness and wellness, enjoy lovelieeess xxx Vic